The present invention relates to automatic performance devices and method which execute an automatic performance while varying a musical factor, such as tone generation timing, gate time or velocity, in automatic performance data, as well as recording media containing an automatic performance program.
Among various types of automatic performance device known today is one which is designed to vary a musical factor, such as tone generation timing, gate time (sounding time length) or velocity (volume), in automatic performance data read out from a memory during an automatic performance without varying the specific substance of the automatic performance data and thereby generate automatic performance tones on the basis of the thus-varied automatic performance data. The automatic performance based on such varied data would give a different impression or feeling from that given by reproducing the original automatic performance data with no variation or modification, i.e., just as stored in the memory. Namely, the musical factor variation can impart a feeling of a subtle ride or groove (expression of the player's performing habit or the like) to the reproduced automatic performance that would otherwise become very monotonous. Such a musical factor varying technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,073.
According to the known technique, groove data for imparting a groove feeling to the automatic performance data has a predetermined length, such as a length of a single measure, and one groove data set is provided in association with all automatic performance data of a music piece or an accompaniment pattern or other performance pattern. To vary the automatic performance data of a music piece, the same groove data set is used repetitively. Further, examples of the automatic performance device where the automatic performance data comprise data of a plurality of tracks include one where the groove data can be set to a different value for each of the tracks.
However, because only one groove data set is provided in association with a single music piece or a single performance pattern and only fixed variations are imparted by the same groove data set in reproduction of the automatic performance, the conventionally-known automatic performance devices present the problem that the automatic performance executed thereby would unavoidably become monotonous. There has also been proposed a technique which, during the course of an automatic performance, modifies, in real time, a manner in which the groove data operate (i.e., the degree of effectiveness of the groove data) in response to player's manipulation of a specific operator, but this proposed technique is unable to repeat such real-time modification in association with the automatic performance data. Similar techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,241,125 and 5,654,517 and Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. SHO-61-140994 and HEI-2-131292, but all of these fail to show or teach a solution to the above-discussed problem.